Unique Harmonies

Shostakovich's 'Moscow, Cherry Town',enjoyed by MARIA NOCKIN

Cher-YO-mush-ki, Cher-YO-mush-ki,
Hear it once, you'll sing it with me!

When is the last time you heard a relatively unknown operetta with memorable tunes? Moscow, Cherry Town ('Moskva, Cheryomushki') is new to most of us, although it was premièred at the Mayakovsky Operetta Theatre in Moscow on 24 January 1959. Originally composed by Dmitri Shostakovich to a Russianlibretto by Vladimir Mass and Mikhail Chervinsky, Long Beach Opera presented it in a rollicking English translation by David Pountney. The English version was first performed by London's Pimlico Opera in 1994...